Get Your Research Rolling
Brick Wall Busters 2017
This hour-long presentation (aimed at advanced beginner and intermediate researchers) focuses on research approaches to get you past “brick walls”. We will look at reasons why we have “brick walls” and how we may be making our own “brick walls.” Focus will be on problem-solving, getting past assumptions, realizing what we know versus what we think we know, and completely analyzing and understanding what we already have.
Order here for immediate download. Recorded presentation and handout included.
Basics of Citation
I just finished my “Basics of Citation” webinar–I 
went over the allotted time and had good questions from attendees. We looked at several examples during the hour-long presentation and discussed the philosophy of citations in a down-to-earth, practical fashion. Our focus was on typical documents and sources researchers use. We did not focus on the arcane or unusual.
One of my goals was to make citations less intimidating. I want people to cite their sources.
It is not the end of the world if your citations are not in the technically proper format. My goal is to make researchers less concerned about minute details and more concerned about the importance of citations and what information is crucial for later research and analysis. I don’t want to people to forgo citations because they’re worried about not doing them right.
The presentation can be ordered for immediate download–handout included. Do not use this link to request your complimentary copy if you registered for the live session. Email me at the email given in your receipt. Thanks!
Using Indexes at FamilySearch
Making the best use of indexed materials at FamilySearch requires a knowledge and understanding of how the indexes at FamilySearch work and how they do not. After providing an overview of search strategies to use at FamilySearch we will look at several examples where locating the person of interest was more involved than simply typing their name the search box and finding it the first time. This presentation will also briefly address organizing your online search strategy. Handout included.
Do I Cite it All?
Making “your case” is more than simply citing every document that mentions a date of birth, a date of death, a marriage, a parent-child relationship, etc. It is determining what to cite, and if no one document states the fact clearly, including all the relevant documents. Depending upon the situation, making your case may involve deciding what documents to use if you have fifteen sources that all provide a date of birth. We will see how to pick and choose sources when there are many of them and how to make your case when it takes multiple sources to reach a conclusion. We will look at three different examples (at least) from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Purchase media file and handouts. Download is immediate. If you registered and did not receive the download, please let me know.
Irfanview
One of the most popular image viewing and manipulation programs around that has
the best price–free! This presentation focuses on basic skills that are useful for the genealogist, including cropping, adding citations, adding text, adding metadata, batch renaming, and more. Geared towards those who don’t have much familiarity with the software.
Order here ($7) for immediate download–handout included
Organizing Digital Media
This presentation is not software or operating system specific. It focuses on file organization, file naming, consistency, and reducing duplication of effort. Our focus is on an easy way that people will actually continue to do on a regular basis. Intricate and complicated organizational systems tend to be abandoned in favor of disorganized chaos. Avoid that temptation–our system is easy and is adapted from the paper system Michael’s used for 25+ years.
Order here ($6) for immediate download–handout included
Library of Virginia Land Patents
This hour-long presentation provides a very broad and quick overview of what land patents are on the Library of Virginia Website; how to search, download, organize, and interact with the images. Handout included.
